A Morning with Jimmy Bore

Discussion in 'Other Styles' started by Melanie, Mar 27, 2008.

  1. Melanie

    Melanie Bend the rules somewhat.. Supporter

    Last week I met up with Jimmy Bore (LilBunnyRabbit) to have a proper look at Choi Kwang do for the first time. A Black Belt from my class also came along, as I knew that we would inevitably compare styles at every opportunity and as I am only a 6th Kyu I knew I wouldn't be able to give a fair representation of my martial art (Shotokan).

    Stances, Posture and Basic Punching

    We did a gentle warm up individually and then set about learning the Choi stance. I immediately noticed that he led by the right foot instead of the left and their stances were considerably higher than ours. The arms are positioned very similarly to boxers (though not exactly the same). The arms seem to be held in reasonably close and tight to the body. To punch, you draw the elbow back (similar to ushiro empi - backward elbow strike) and swing the elbow up to shoulder height and do a roundhouse punch from there. Yatindra and I are used to punching from the hip, so it felt a little unusual at first but I think we did our best. I did notice we used our hips in much the same way as in Shotokan but depending on which side we punched, the opposing heel was raised as the flow of the punch was followed through - very much unlike Shotokan!

    Basic Kicking

    We then went through kicks. Jimmy described and demonstrated very well and we found it much harder to copy this than we did the punching. The left foot (or back kick in their stance) was a lot easier however. It involves swinging the foot back (or how Jimmy described it better - "technically its a circular movement, almost like pedalling backwards, or it should be") and almost hitting your bottom and using the momentum from bringing your foot back so far - you swing out and kick chudan (middle level) with the ball of the foot.

    We then went through some basics as follows:

    Techniques:

    Front and rear inwards punch
    Front and rear sidefist strike
    Front and rear backfist strike
    Front and rear knifehand strike

    Front and rear round punch
    Front and rear vertical round punch
    Front and rear upwards punch
    Front and rear downwards punch
    Front and rear body punch

    Front and rear inwards palm strike
    Front and rear round palm strike

    Front and rear claw thrust
    Front and rear split finger thrust

    Front and rear leg front kick
    Front and rear leg side kick
    Front and rear leg swing kick
    Front and rear leg reverse swing kick
    Front and rear twisting kick
    Front and rear heel front kick
    Front and rear downwards kick
    Front and rear crescent kick
    Spinning side kick
    Spinning reverse swing kick
    Spinning downwards kick
    Spinning twisting kick

    Outwards block
    Inwards block
    Low block
    Palm high inwards block
    Palm low body block
    Palm low reverse body block
    Twisting block
    Scooping block
    Double palm downwards block

    A fairly arduous time had by all I can say!

    Sparring

    We then did a little bit of sparring. Another obvious difference here was Jimmy moved around the room that much more. They go around the hall when sparring - unlike us with our allotted areas. I watched Yatindra and Jimmy spar and noticed that Jimmy was facing more towards Yatindra and Yatindra was always at an angle. Whilst I am not a referee, I did attempt to 'point' the sparring between them and Jimmy reached 10 to Yatindras 7 with mostly punches in the first round. He used his scooping block most effectively a couple of times and unbalanced Yatindra (during kicks) and punched him squarely in the head. The second round was won by Yatindra at 10 to Jimmy's 6. Both kicked in this round far more than previously and it was over far quicker. Yatindra learned very quickly that mawashi geri (round house kick) was too quick for Jimmy to scoop).

    The way Jimmy punched was very much like a high (shoulder height) roundhouse punch. With our training - bringing our arm up from the hip to complete Age Uke (upper rising block), Yatindra had to bring his arm up that much more 'rounded' to block Jimmy when he performed one of these punches.

    We briefly discussed the techniques used and caught our breath (well they caught theirs anyway) and then got mats out to show Jimmy a few falls and a couple of self defence techniques.

    Falls

    Yatindra demonstrated on me to show Jimmy how we threw or off-balanced an attacker. Very much Judo appreciative, but if it works, why not nick it? We went through the hip

    throws and trapping of legs. We noticed that Choi had no groundfighting techniques and Jimmy said that he found this useful and would select a couple of victims/students to practice on when he got back to class. We only spent a short time doing this as we were starting to run out of time in the dojo.

    During the course of the morning we did start to notice some stark similarities in the application of some of the techniques used. Mostly in the arm techniques when punching or blocking. Arm bars and traps could be applied in similar places during a technique and knowledge of these are known only to higher grades (so I found this section of the morning most illuminating - pity I can't remember all of it).

    Kata and Patterns

    Jimmy demonstrated a few of the Patterns they have. The most basic Pattern involves a few steps and only one direction, but as they grade (every two months) they add to the pattern and extend it. They have a belt system of Junior and Senior (i.e. White Junior and White Senior) before going on to the next colour. The Patterns are performed all fast and furiously unlike the Kata we perform, which range from speeds of one movement in 5 seconds to another taking a second. They do Kiai or rather Kiyup and do not appear to assist the power of their techniques with breathing. All breathing appears to be done normally at all times. However, saying that, it doesn't appear to detract from the technique or in anyway impair the power behind it. I should know, I was holding the punchbag when both Jimmy and Yatindra hit it. They left me feeling equally winded.

    Yatindra then demonstrated Heian Nidan, our second Heian Kata for Jimmy's benefit. He went through the technique and application applied throughout the Kata in the form of a two man Kata and once more I was extremely enlightened! (I remember much more of this!).

    We had about 10 minutes left by this time, so we put the mats away and we all took part in knife defences. Including evading, blocking and countering.

    I can honestly say I enjoyed the morning and found Choi interesting and a little perplexing. Their basic techniques are so far removed from our own - yet we could still see some similarities when breaking them down. I have had my eyes opened to this martial art now but feel more certain than ever, that I am doing the right martial art for me. Although their Patterns are undoubtedly more relevant to today's attacks and can be utilised for effective self defence, I can understand why it has been named by other martial arts as the 'Art of Streetfighting'. The aspect I most enjoy about Shotokan is the beauty and flow of a well performed Kata and would miss performing this myself. It is still a very new martial art and is changing and updating all the time. I will make every effort to see this martial art grow and I know this martial art will be around for some time to come.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 16, 2010
  2. Arkimedes

    Arkimedes New Member

    Awesome article

    Thanks for the fresh perspective
     

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